The present invention relates to audio visual instructional systems and more particularly to a welding instructional system for instructing students how to weld using a welding torch simulator interacting with a visual display of a welding site.
In various types of student learning situations, especially those involving hands-on situations wherein a student must manipulate a tool to learn a new skill, an instructor need be present to see the student perform the skill and to critique the performance. This is especially true in cases where the skill involves a safety hazard, such as a welding torch or the like which uses an oxygen-acetylene flame. The student must not only learn under potentially dangerous conditions, but the instructor must be present, thereby increasing the cost of instruction and preventing the instructor from performing other tasks. Moreover, the presence of the instructor during the initial learning phases may cause anxiety in some students especially where the instructor expects the student to learn the skill within a certain time period. Further, in such situations, the student must schedule a learning session at a time when the instructor is available, which may not be the most convenient time for the student.